Walking With Strangers
by OctoberRaven
Summary: A -somewhat- squeal to Kingdom Hearts II. As heartless begin to appear in an unknown world, Riku and Sora journey on to help rid itself from the darkness. .:RikuxOC:.
1. Chapter 1

Kingdom Hearts  
Walking With Strangers  
Ch.1

**Description**: _A -somewhat- sequel to Kingdom Hearts II. As heartless begin to appear in an unknown world, Riku and Sora journey on to help rid itself from the darkness. RikuxOC for a main pairing. Rated T, because I can.  
_**  
Disclaimer:** _Kingdom Hearts, and any other characters that appear here do not belong to me. They belong to Square Enix and their rightful owners_.  
**  
A/N:** _Some spoilers for the Kingdom Hearts series. Death, angst, some guy on guy fluff, and all that good stuff. You've been warned, don't like it, then don't read it. Enjoy!  
Also, yes I'm re-writing this story because I really didn't like where my other plot was going. Sorry for those of you that had this on your watch list, some stuff might stay the same but I'm mostly making everything new and improved._

* * *

Out in the endless limits of space flew a small ship, in that ship there were three familiar passengers. One was the hero of light, the other was a master of the darkness, and the last was a princess of heart. It had been some time since the three were all together at last, and now they were on a small trip to go and visit the world of Twilight town. It was one of the last worlds that Sora thought he would never see again, but clearly he was wrong. The hero told his friends in that world that he would come and see them again; and he always kept his promises.

Sora bounced about in his seat as he watched the stars zoom past the window of the small Gummi Ship. His blue eyes were wide with excitement as he sat in the pilot's seat, feeling as if he were a leader for an important mission once again.

"It was nice of the king to let us go visit Twilight town again." Kairi said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "I wonder how everyone has been; the last time I saw them well...Axel kind of kidnapped me."

Sora seemed to flinch when she said that. "Yeah…but you're safe now. I can't wait to see the look on their faces when we show up and surprise them."

He turned to see his silver haired friend sitting in his seat, arms folded with his eyes closed. He wasn't asleep, that's for sure because he seemed alert and stirred a bit when the tip of his Keyblade made contact with his knee.

The older boy opened one eye and grumbled, kicking the weapon away. "Stop that, or I just might end up kicking you next time."

"Oh c'mon Riku get up here and enjoy the ride with us." Sora half whined sitting in his seat facing his friend, "It's no fun without you."

Riku sat up right and shook his head softly. "I'm okay back here."

The smaller teen gave up quickly, and with a small pout he turned back around and started up a chat with Kairi. Riku gazed out the window closest to him and watched the sky float on past. It felt good to be going back to another world, not having to fight off heartless. At the same time it almost made him feel like he didn't have a purpose anymore; like he didn't have a right to be in someone else's home without having a reason.

He laughed at himself; the boy who wanted to get away from his island didn't want to go anywhere further than his doorstep since they returned home. Most of his reason was because he didn't have any friends in the other worlds like Sora did. He wasn't ready to be all smiles and rainbows after all that happened. But as Kairi had been telling him, (way too often for his taste) it was just his normal grumpy attitude keeping him from wanting to venture away from their paradise.

"Hey, we're almost to Twilight Town!" Sora exclaimed jumping up in his seat. His wide grin showed how much more excited he was getting.

Riku took a wild guess and also thought Roxas was part of his friend being so happy. Twilight town was his "home" after all. His friends nobody must have been adding to his feelings of excitement the whole trip there. It was nice seeing Sora happy again though. He always seemed so drained of energy when he was fighting the heartless, it was almost sad.

"I bet Hayner and Riku will get along well," Kairi was saying, "They're both hard headed and stubborn."

Riku rolled his eyes and walked over to the girl, ruffling her hair making sure to mess it up well. "_I'm_stubborn? Who kept insisting she come along on this trip, even though it could, for some reason, be dangerous?"

The cherry red head closed her mouth, and her cheeks reddened from embarrassment. She smiled sheepishly and turned back in her seat. The girl always knew Riku was the first one to not tolerate any nonsense that came from her mouth. But she didn't mind, it had always been that way since they first met.

"You guys ready to land?" Sora broke in, waving an arm about getting his friends attention. When they both nodded he grinned, "Okay. Sit back and fasten your seatbelts, lady and gentleman. We'll be arriving in Twilight Town shortly."

Kairi quickly fastened her seatbelt, slightly sad that her first Gummi ship ride was about to come to an end. Riku sat back down and strapped in, watching as the small world before them grew bigger as they came closer. It looked so peaceful and quiet; maybe he would enjoy the trip after all...as long as a certain brunette wouldn't force him to make friends.

"The town is so beautiful." Kairi said in awe. Her blue orbs seemed to be dancing in excitement, "I can't wait to see everyone!"

Riku felt a small amount of excitement in his chest, but nothing really out of the ordinary like his two best friends. He had spent some time here, watching over Sora, but he never really got to relax and explore the town.

"Hey Riku, you okay?" Sora asked sincerely, looking back over to him.

_He's too kind for his own good._Diz had mentioned, boy was he right.

A thin smile crossed his lips, "I'm fine, Sora. Really, you don't have to worry about me. I'm a big boy." He teased.

When Sora laughed he felt at ease. His friend might have been too kind, but at least being around the boy made everyone who came in contact with him calm. Well, most of the time at least. Even when Riku did get irritated, he never loathed Sora for it. It was just in his nature.

"Landing in T-minus 30 seconds."  
"Do you even know what that means you bum?"

The brunette grinned. "I've always wanted to say it. But Donald never let me."

Sora was bringing them into land, the smile never leaving his face the entire time. For a spilt second, Riku could have sworn he saw his friend's other half. He was smiling right besides him, waiting to return home.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Ch.2  
Kingdom Hearts  
Walking With Strangers**_

* * *

"Sora? Is that really you?" An

astonished blonde male said, poking him hard in the chest. When he got a grunt in response he laughed loudly. "No way! It's been a year since we last saw you."

Hayner attacked him with questions as he guided them to the center of the bust town in search for his own two friends. Sora and Kairi tried to keep up with his questions, but he kept asking faster than they could answer. Riku laughed at them from behind; it felt kind of nice to be in this town again.

His eyes wandered from building to building, watched a few people run about trying to get to wherever they were going. It was so much more chaotic here then on the islands. Even on its fullest days, Destiny Island's town square couldn't add up to how many people were cooped up in this town.

"Kairi! Sora!" A small female voice called out. A younger looking girl with brown hair came running towards them. She was followed by a rather stumpy looking male trying hard to keep up.

"Olette!" Kairi practically yelled as she embraced the other female, "I've missed you guys so much! How have you been?"

"Hey you two." Pence said bending down a bit to catch his breath. He looked up at his female friend and huffed, "You just took off outta nowhere, it scared me. I thought something was wrong."

As everyone caught up with each other, Riku leaned against the nearest wall and just watched them. It made him feel a bit lonely, they didn't even notice he was there. That is, until Sora randomly pulled him into the circle of friends.

He blinked a few times as everyone paused in whatever they were talking about. It made Riku a bit uncomfortable that all eyes were suddenly on him.

"Hello, are you one of Sora and Kairi's friends?" Olette asked tilting her head to the side a bit.

Riku nodded. "Um, yeah. Their best friend actually."

"Well, what's your name?" Hayner asked, with small frown on his face.

Sora answered for his already annoyed looking friend. "This is Riku, he helped me defeat the bad guys and save all of humanity."

"So dramatic." Kairi said as Olette giggled away.

The boys looked Riku over for a moment, and then gave a warm smile. "Welcome to the club." They said in unison.

Riku felt himself relax a little; he smiled at them and let the ever curious Hayner ask him questions about his journey with Sora. He told him small things, and that was alright with the smaller boy; Hayner seemed excited to listen to the tales of Sora and Riku.

As the group walked around town for a while, they stopping to get some sea-salt ice cream, and then settled on top of the clock tower. The view was stunning; the island kids had never seen something so different.

"Hey Sora," Pence started off as he finished his ice cream bar. "We actually have something to tell you."

The hero of light looked over at Pence with curious eyes. "What is it? Is it something...bad?"

"Well no, not really. It's important though." Olette started, "Did you guys by any chance get a letter from the king?"

"Well, we got one from him saying we could come and see you guys again. Other than that no." Sora replied hoping up on the towers edge.

Riku automatically held his free hand up, in case he was to slip. Sora never did think most of his actions through.

"The king sent us a letter; it said that we should give it to you to read." Hayner said pulling a piece of paper from his pocket, "we didn't open it."

"But he wanted to." Both his friends said with small fits of laughter. He mumbled as he handed the note over to Sora who quickly flipped it open.

_Dear Sora, and Riku_

I'm hoping that you guys get this letter when you arrive in Twilight Town. I've been looking over the worlds and some bad news has been brought to my attention. If you two could, please make your way to the castle as quickly as possible. I'm really sorry if this comes as a bother to you, but I know you two are the ones who can take on this job.

See you fellas soon.  
Mickey Mouse

The two Keyblade barriers furrowed their brows at the letter. Some bad news? What in the world could that mean? Riku gave Sora a look, and they both walked away from everyone to have a chat.

Kairi sighed. "I bet that the heartless are back. That could be the only reason they were both asked to go back to the castle."

Olette since the hint of sadness in her voice. "Maybe you can convince them to let you go."

The red head shook her head with a laugh. "No...The most I could probably convince them to let me do is go with them to the castle. I know with Riku around I won't be able to go."

Kairi looked back at her friends talking intently to each other. Sora making faces and Riku shaking his head and rolling his eyes every once in a while. As much as she wanted to go with them, all she would really do was hold then back. Even though on their last journey she had obtained a Keyblade, that had only been because Riku had given it to her. She tried many times but couldn't summon it again.

It was fine; everything was going to be okay. Even if the boys left again they would be back.

"Okay, sorry for making this reunion so short..." Sora started as he walked back over to his friends, "But we have to go. The king needs us."

Hayner, Pence, and Olette all understood. They did feel sad that they were going to take off and leave again but if it meant helping out whatever his majesty needed, then they would let them go. They all stood at once and followed the trio back down the tower.

Riku was the first to say farewell to everyone, he gave a light wave as he walked off back to the Gummi ship. He knew the other two would need a bit more time for their goodbyes. Kairi bit her lip softly trying to hold back some tears as she hugged on to each and every one of her friends. Sora let a tear fall; it was like a deja vu when they first left he cried as well.

This time though...he could feel Roxas.

"You'll see us again, right?" Hayner asked with a small grin upon his lips.

Sora nodded in response. "I promise! And you know I won't go back on it." He said with an empty laugh. His tears wanting to burst at that moment.

Damn that Roxas.

"Goodbye everyone!" Kairi called out before she and the boys disappeared from sight of the busy town. They walked in silence to the Gummi ship, none really knowing what to say.

The feeling Sora had got went from sad to worried. He was still trying to figure out what the King could have meant in his letter. He was wishing that everything would be resolved already when they arrived at the castle, but life didn't work that way. For all he knew, heartless could be swarming other worlds they didn't know about.

The hero of light sighed to himself as he sat back in his pilot's seat. The feeling sinking in more as his mind flooded with possibilities on what the King had in store for them.

Sora was certain of one thing though; no matter what he would see this through. He was the hero of light, meant to protect the worlds from darkness. He was going to restore peace once again of he had to, and this time he'd have his best friend fighting alongside him.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Ch.3  
Kingdom Hearts  
Walking With Strangers**_

* * *

As soon as the trio arrived, they exited the ship and quickly made haste to the Kings chamber. Sora had to practically pull Kairi along and stop her from gazing at the buildings that were surrounding them at that moment. Her eyes looked around frantically trying to take in the sparkling white towers that seemed to touch the clouds. Her ears took in the sound of upbeat music playing every which way as they walked through the beautiful garden and into a hidden doorway placed in the side of the wall.

Bubbles of irritation started flowing up on the small girls body as she was being dragged along. "Sora, slow down. I understand you've been here before but I haven't." She said stopping in the middle of the hallway, glaring slightly at her friend.

Riku had to improvise in some fancy foot work as to not slam into her. "C'mon Kai, I'm sure the Queen will show you around after we get this situation straightened out." He said in a calm tone of voice.

Kairi huffed and nodded as she continued following her spiky haired friend to a pair of enormous doors that seemed near impossible to open. Sora seemed to be lost in thought as he just stood there staring at them, as if they would suddenly open. He turned around to meet eyes with his clearly annoyed female friend and let out a small, content sigh.

"Sorry Kairi, I'm just...excited actually." He knocked as hard as he cold on the doors, "More so in knowing that you'll be safe even in we do go away for a while."

Riku watched the doors open slowly in front of his smaller friends. They both pulled apart from the quick 'I forgive you' hug, and turned attention to who was standing inside of the room. He knew who the two goofballs were the moment he laid eyes on them. A rather familiar temper mental duck, and a kind hearted dog. The two shining knights of the castle.

"SORA!" They cried out in unison as they tackled him down in a hug.

"Donald! Goofy!" The boy said overjoyed in meeting two of his battle buddies again after so long. "I've missed you guys."

"We've missed you too," Donald started as he regained his composer from his little reunion, "But right now the King needs to see you. Hurry!" The duck yelled pushing his friend into the King's Chambers.

Goofy chuckled and bowed before Kairi allowing the Princess to enter the room before him. He then turned to Riku and waved. "Hiya Riku!"

Riku gave him a halfhearted wave in response as he motioned for the Knight to follow him into the chambers. His eyes looked around and was quite impressed at the shelves upon shelves of books that were all around the room. The King's desk was in the center, already crowded with everyone around it.

"Riku, over here." Sora called out, as if it wasn't obvious to where he should go.

"I'm glad you all decided to come over so fast," Mickey started clearing some papers off his desk. "I think if I would have sent that letter any later we would be in big danger."

"What seems to be the problem, your Majesty?" Riku asked through the side conversations that busted upon the word 'danger'.

Mickey perked up and stood in his chair. "Oh, right! Well like I said in the letter, I came across a world that seems to have traces of heartless appearing on its grounds. It's worrying me that if we don't go help them now they could be overrun by darkness."

Sora's eyes went wide. Heartless...that was just great. So the last two times he fought off the creatures and locked away the door was for nothing. His brows furrowed in thought as he tapped a finger on his chin.

"What's the name of the world?" He asked.

"It's Starlit Gardens." Another voice said behind everyone. A boy was standing there, arms crossed leaning against the doorway.

"Ah, Aiden. Come in, just in time." Mickey said with a smile on his face.

As the boy named Aiden approached, Sora and Riku took the time to look him over. He wore normal looking attire; dark jeans tucked away into worn out black combat boots. His shirt was made to fit his body accenting the muscles he clearly worked hard to manage. His hair style was an odd one, one half was slicked back and the other half of his raven colored hair was falling over one of his sea-green eyes.

He made his way up to the desk and gave the King a small bow with his head, looking up at all the guests that had arrived. He arched an eyebrow. "So, are you guys Sora and Riku? Who is who?"

"Well, I'm Sora, and this is my best friend Riku." Sora answered to the older looking boy.

"Mickey said you guys have fought those heartless things before?"

"Yeah, we did." Sora answered again. Riku just nodded in agreement.

Aiden seemed to become relieved at that statement. His eyes seemed to light up as he shook hands with the two teens. "Sorry, but when I first heard about you two I wasn't expecting much."

Kairi scrunched her nose up a bit then took a few steps closer to stand between her friends. "They've fought more heartless than you can count, don't be quick to judge when you haven't even got to know them."

Aiden was taken aback for a moment. He looked down at the steaming cherry red head and tried not to laugh. Not at her, but because at that moment she reminded him of one of his close friends back at home. He placed a hand on her head and patted it lightly.

"I'm not quick to judge, little red." He said simply as the girl swatted his hand away.

Sora waved a hand in Aiden's face and caught his attention. "Umm, excuse me but I'd like to learn about what the heck is going on."

The raven haired male nodded and sat on the King's desk. The mouse didn't seem to mind, but Riku did. How long have they known each other? The boy even called him 'Mickey', not even Riku felt it was right to address him by his name, even though after the Castle Oblivion episode he was asked too because they became so close.

_Welcome back jealousy, didn't know I'd be seeing you here so soon._Riku said in his head.

"Well, as we've said before my home has suddenly become a target for those heartless things. At first it didn't seem to be a problem...but they've started evading the kingdom next to us as well. That kingdom is connected to our world called the Crystal Kingdom, they practically have no defense seeing as our troops are stationed in Starlit Gardens. Most of our troops...well all of them have never experienced fighting the likes of those creatures."

His eyes met with Riku's, who seemed to be staring at him the whole time. He stared right back as he continued on with his story. "We don't have any clues as to how they started appearing, but that's why Mickey suggested we call you guys in for help. You two have saved countless worlds before, so how 'bout it? Want to be hero's for one more journey?"

Kairi looked to Sora; she already knew his answer, but Riku looked a bit more un-convinced. His eyes studied the floor as he processed the story over in his head again.

"We'll help you. There's no doubt about that." Sora spoke up nudging Riku's side. "They don't call me the hero of light for nothing."

Riku sighed and pushed his friend away a bit from his personal bubble. "Yeah, we'll go. We can't just let a world get engulfed by darkness."

"What kind of reputation would you guys have if you did?" Kairi teased.

"It's settled then!" Aiden exclaimed jumping off the desk, "We'll leave shortly, the sooner we beat the bad guys the better. And besides if I don't get home soon my friends will beat me." He said with a slight shiver.

Mickey hopped out of his seat and followed Aiden out the chambers to the Gummi ports. Donald and Goofy paced around the room as the Island trio talked among themselves for a moment. Kairi fiddled with her necklace when Sora put a hand on her shoulder.

"Kairi..." He started.

"I know, I can't go." She said softly. "I don't want to get in the way."

"No, no! Not because of that-"

"We don't want you to get hurt." Riku intervened, "and it'll take a lot of weight off our shoulders knowing that you'll be safe in the protection of the castle."

Kairi smiled, "I understand don't worry." She pulled out a small charm and handed it to Sora. "This is my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me okay?" She said as the boy burst out laughing.

What a nice replay of events.

"I will, don't worry." He said through her fit of giggles.

"Sora, let's go." Riku said gesturing towards the door.

The brunette gave his friend a big squeeze and told Donald and Goofy to watch over her until they came back. The two knights saluted as the boys walked off. Kairi waved goodbye, yelling out for them to be safe and come back soon.

Half way to the Gummi ports Sora groaned and stopped in his tracks. Riku arched a silver brow, "What's wrong?"

"This is going to be our third trip in less than a day, I'm tired and hungry." The smaller boy replied holding his stomach.

Riku let a laugh slip out, louder than expected making it echo throughout the tunnels leading to the ship. Sora puffed his cheeks out and stomped ahead of his friend. He kept laughing behind him as they made way to the larger Gummi ship that was parked right next to theirs. How they didn't notice it was beyond them.

Aiden was at the top of the stairs leading into the ship, talking with the King. When he spotted the two younger boys he called them over, yelling for them to pick up the pace.

This boy sure loved to be loud. Sora ran up the stairs and said yet another quick goodbye to his mouse friend. Riku made his way into the ship waving to the king as the door shut tight.

"Goodbye Disney Castle, hello Starlit Gardens." Aiden said walking to his seat of the ship...which Sora had already been sitting in.

"That's _my_ seat." He said.  
"Doesn't have your name on it." Sora threw back sticking his tongue out.

Riku rested his head in his hand and sighed. His friend didn't even know where the heck they were going. "This was going to be a _long_ trip."Top of Form


	4. Chapter 4

**Ch.4  
Kingdom Hearts  
Walking With Strangers**

* * *

After a few minutes of bickering and watching Sora fight off a boy twice his size he gave up and moved to the co-pilot seat. He was sulking and mumbling to himself the whole way to Starlit Gardens as Aiden tried to strike up conversations to try and lift his spirits. The younger boy soon gave in and was back to his happy self in no time.

Aiden kept talking about random things; about himself, about his two best friends, and how his world used to be before the heartless came into the picture. Starlit Gardens was a peaceful place never once been touched by darkness. It was lively and always lit up, even at night the lights would make the planet seem to have a kind of artificial day. Crystal Kingdom was a vast planet filled with tall buildings, sparkling architecture, and more shops than the boys had ever seen, according to Aiden himself.

The older boy seemed so relaxed as he told them stories about the two worlds, it brought the hero's into a settling calm as they continued flying to their destination.

"So, are those two friends you keep mentioning going to help us out?" Sora asked leaning back in his chair, trying to ignore the hunger pains.

Aiden smiled brightly. "You bet your spiky head they are. Collin might be a little distant at first but don't worry, I'm sure he'll warm up to you in no time." He said adding a wink.

"And the girl?" Riku said now leaning on the back of Sora's seat.

"Dana...she'll probably be the hardest to crack. She has a bit of a temper and really doesn't trust people she hardly knows. But I'm sure once I tell her that you'll be helping to save our home, she might consider being your friend."

Riku nodded a bit and turned his attention back to the front window. Why even make friends? They would probably never see them again after this. Well, at least ihe/i wouldn't.

Sora turned to Riku with a grin on his face. His friend gave him an odd look, "So, that Dana girl. I have a feeling you two will get along."

"Why do you say that?" Riku asked, already knowing the answer.

"Because, she sounds like_ you_. The temper, and partly the whole trust thing." Sora said stretching, "Well the old you, you've grown out of that shell quite a bit."

As Riku glared at his friend preparing for a comeback, an alarm went off startling all three of them. Aiden snapped his head to the radar and saw a few small ships flying around them. The few red dots multiplied before he could blink, and lasers shot out aiming for their ship.

"Sora, take over the guns! I can't let them strike down the ship." Aiden said trying to keep his calm. He didn't know that he'd be attacked out in the sky, and he clearly wasn't ready for it.

Sora strapped himself in and quickly reduced the number of heartless ships by half. He smirked a bit as he continued to shoot the enemy ships, as Aiden swiftly dodged most of the attacks. Riku watched the lasers fly past them as a planet started coming into view.

"Is that it?" He yelled out over the alarm, pointing out in front of them.

"Finally," Aiden breathed. He collected his thoughts and pulled a shield around the Gummi ship, making sure that the enemies would do no further damage. "C'mon let's make our grand entrance."

The boys braced themselves as Aiden steered them in. He called in dispatchers, asking them to clear a landing spot, but they couldn't hear them over the constant ringing of alarms.

Sora began to panic slightly. He dug his fingers into his seat as they got hit with another of the enemy's lasers, sending them going down faster than Aiden had been taking them. He had never once had a bad Gummi ride; but there was a first time for everything.

He closed his eyes and began to try and calm himself. What had gotten into him, he wasn't sure of. But all he wanted to do now was land and get his friends to safety. He could hear Riku and Aiden shout out to him but he chose to ignore their calls and thought of the one thing that could help them.

"Light..." He said softly. Placing a hand over his heart he let everything build up inside of him. All of his energy into a lifesaving attack: All his anger towards the heartless, having to leave home again, and a desire to keep Riku away from the darkness.

"Sora!"

He could feel something building up from his chest, stronger and stronger it intensified until he could almost no longer handle the burning sensation that was emitting from all his power.

"What's wrong with him?"

A bright light began creeping out from his hand as he slowly opened his eyes. It engulfed the boys, and the whole ship.

"What's happening-"

And then, all of his power was released. The wave of light exploded, causing the ship to rumble and the heartless back into nothingness. It was so powerful, Riku was sent back a few feet wide eyed at his friends full potential. He had never seen something... _felt _something so powerful before. He even felt drained of energy as he stood back up and went to check on his friend who just gave him a weak smile and thumbs up.

When it was all over, the ship made it in one piece to the landing docks. Aiden landed with a rather large sigh of relief patting Sora on the head as he pushed a button to open the door.

"I have no clue what you did back there...but I'm glad it saved us."

The door struggled to open for a moment and when it finally did it fell off it's hinges. All three of them gazed outside with dazed expressions. The poor Gummi ship must have taken more damage than they thought. Aiden began to laugh as he jumped down from the broken device and waited for the boys to follow suit.

"Sora, are you okay?" Riku asked as his friend jumped down after him.

The smaller boy nodded. "Of course I am, don't think that an attack like that could take me out. I'm used to it." He replied with a grin.

Riku shrugged it off and followed Aiden out of the Gummi ports, who was already getting yelled at for destroying one of the worlds "finest" ships. Well, it was a junk heap now. Upon closer inspection he noticed that: the door had fallen off, the right wing was on fire, and there were many chunks of the ship missing. Aiden just smiled and ignored the angry builders telling them to just clean it up if they were so worried about it.

He opened a pair of doors and sunshine warmed Sora's already flushed cheeks. Flushed mostly due to the fact that he was indeed quite tired from pouring out his light. His blue eyes squinted as he took a step out and saw the world around him. He felt Riku stop besides him, taking in the sight.

"Woah." Was all the brunette could muster up.

"Sora, Riku," Aiden said jumping in front of them holding his arms out gesturing to his home, "Welcome to Starlit Gardens!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Ch.5  
Kingdom Hearts  
Walking With Strangers**

* * *

The world in front of them was stunning, a different stunning from that of Destiny Islands or even Twilight Town. There were buildings, many of them in fact each having their own architectural shape. All of the walls surrounding the buildings had vines and flowers going every which way curving up and reaching to the clouds above. There were fountains scattered about, and the largest fountain could be seen shooting up over the town. Many lights were hanging on and off the buildings; it must have been beautiful at night.

It held Riku's gaze for a moment as they walked through the crowded town. There were a lot of people here, and he felt like they were all staring at him curious as to why an outsider was here. He walked past everyone and up front with Aiden, who was giving him a small tour of all the passing shops and vending carts they passed.

Sora on the other hand waved to the people who stopped to stare at him. He said 'hi there!' And 'hello!' Every now and then. He got odd stares from some and greetings from others. He seemed to be enjoying himself.

Aiden led them past the giant fountain and through an empty part of town. The two masters of the Keyblade looked around the quite part of town, which slightly bothered them how quite and lifeless it really was. There was only a few sounds of children's laughter, and a few grown-ups having conversations on the porch but other than that, nothing.

If this world was a target for another war zone, then where was all the damage? Then again, heartless weren't ones to mindlessly destroy a town and steal away the town's precious items.

Aiden yelled something out up ahead causing the boys to both jump. He had such a booming voice for someone who looked so quiet and collected.

"Aiden, you're back so soon? I knew you'd miss my presence." They heard somebody say. "Welcome home!"

Down the front steps of the house, an orange haired man came into view. He wore a tan vest over a clean white shirt and dark jeans.

He looked older then all of them, and had a welcoming smile on his face. His green eyes scanned Sora and Riku for a second as he stopped in front of his friend.

"Who are these two kids?" The man asked arching a single brow.

Sora answered first, as usual. "Hi!" He said cheerfully. "I'm Sora, and this is my friend Riku. We came from our home, Destiny Islands; to help you guys restore the peace. King Mickey sent us."

The oldest man nodded, rubbing his chin in thought. "My name is Collin...you guys must be good, seeing as the mouse sent you."

Riku stayed silent, watching his friend explain everything that had happened the last few hours. His eyes looked to the small house in front of him, catching sight of movement from the window. His heart quickened as his keyblade flashed to life, catching the boys attention.

Collin seemed to grin as he caught sight of the odd weapon and followed the line of Riku's sight back to his house. "Hey Dana, get out here. This boy seems to have one of those weird sword things."

Sora tilted his head and looked to Riku who was still holding his Way to the Dawn tightly in his hand. His blue eyes caught sight of a girl their age stepping out of the doorway; she didn't look as welcoming as Collin did though.

She was wearing a midnight blue corset over a black tank-top. It held tightly to her torso and followed her figure respectively. A loose belt was placed over her black shorts leading to sheer stockings, tucked away into small boots. On her left arm was a arm-warmer that laced all the way up to her elbow with dark blue ribbon.

Around her neck was a chocker that held a beautiful pendent, it sparkled in the sunlight as she approached them.

She stood in front of them, arms folded and a small look of displeasure on her face. When her eyes rested on Riku he took note of the odd blue-grey color. The dark silver color of her hair made them stand out even more.

"So these are the people that are going to save us?" When she looked to Aiden for confirmation, all she did was roll her eyes when he nodded a yes. "_Great_." She said in a flat tone.

Riku already saw the resemblance between him and this Dana girl. But he didn't like her attitude, she didn't even know them. He lowered his keyblade and moved hair away from his face, only to have it fall back in his eyes.

The tension in the air was horrible.

Collin bopped Dana on the head and broke everyone away from wanting to attack each other. The girl narrowed her eyes and looked up at him, he just smiled down and gestured over to Riku's keyblade.

"You have one of those too?" She asked Sora quietly, when Oblivion appeared in his hand, she sighed. Dana held out her own hand and a keyblade flashed to life. Her weapon had two black curves and a crimson edge coming off the blade. The extended handle had sparkling crimson patterns that ran down the base of the guard. "I call it Dream Reaper."

What a fitting name.

"I'm actually a keyblade master," Sora started when he saw the displeased look flash into Dana's eyes once more, "Me and Riku have been through a lot with the heartless. Please, you can count on us to save your world."

"I can already tell you don't like us, but you could at least give us a chance." Riku added on.

Dana exchanged looks with her two friends before looking back at the boys. The brunette seemed to be radiating with a strong light that was calming her down slightly. The sliver headed boy brought to her a sense of power; it was something she needed for the battle up a head.

"Fine, but you're going to have to prove to me that you guys can really fight off those heartless creatures." She said as her keyblade flashed away.

Aiden looked ahead and pulled out a gun from a gauntlet that was resting on his side. Small black pools of darkness were racing towards them as he fired. "Looks like they can convince you now."

Sora seemed to smile, even though he didn't want to see the heartless so soon. He wanted to prove to Dana though that they could handle these things, and maybe she would stop being so cold towards them.

He took off and sliced through the shadows with ease. His blue eyes caught sight of two more coming up by Collin and Dana. "Behind you!"

Collin suddenly pulled out a small throwing knife and sent it through the annoying shadow. The other crawled around and tried to swipe at Dana, she jumped out of the way. Her eyes were etched with fury.

Riku was busy helping Aiden dispatch of the Solider Heartless that had appeared. He was confused as to why she hadn't summoned her weapon in order to help them, but at the moment he was more concerned with getting rid of the Heartless.

There was room for questions later.  
A lot of questions.

Sora took out the last of the annoying tin cans with a sliding move, piercing through them in quick succession.

"Show off." Riku said, smirking at his best friend. Sora just grinned at him.

"Convince you yet? I thought they were pretty good." Aiden said giving Sora a hard slap on the back.

Dana looked to Riku who gave her eyes of disapproval. She knew he saw that she didn't summon her own Keyblade. But if she had told them as to why she didn't do it...they would just pile on the sensitivity more. Which was something she wasn't going to allow at this point in time.

"Why didn't you summon Dream Reaper?" Riku asked suddenly.

Dana blinked up at him as she opened her mouth to answer. She was at a loss for words though. "Because I-"

"Because she doesn't know how to control it." A very familiar voice said. "I don't think she's fit to be a keyblade master like you two stiffs are."

Collin turned to see their guest finally step out and make an appearance. "Nice of you to join us. Meet the hero's-"

The red head cut them off again as he got in the boys faces. "Sora, and Riku." He laughed when they simply stood there, trying to figure out if he was real or not.

"You know these boys?" Collin asked confused.

" 'Course I do, and judging by their faces, I'm sure they remember me." He leaned against Dana, who seemed about ready to knock his head off. "But if you don't...here's a refresher. The names Axel, got it memorized?"

_Axel._

He was standing there, right in front of them but...Sora saw him return to the darkness. Axel, no, all of the Organization had been taken care of. They had walked past their graves back in the world they had created. How was he here? Were the other members back as well?

So many questions flooded the boys heads. Sora was on the verge of fainting, Riku was on the verge of screaming. They took one step forward to get sent about a million steps back.

"What are you doing here? How are you even alive?" Sora finally said.

Axel ran a hand through his fiery locks of hair. The grin never left his face. Riku pinched the bridge of his nose a sighed. He had given up on even trying making sense of the situation.

"How about we talk inside? It looks like Sora is about to have a panic attack." Aiden said gesturing towards the house.

Dana and Collin lead everyone back to their sanctuary. Riku was glad they would finally get a chance to rest. Then maybe, all of their questions would get resolved and everything could go back to normal. Well, slightly normal. They still had to fend off the heartless here in this world as well.

"C'mon dark prince we don't have all day." Axel called from the doorway.

Did he think normal?  
Yeah, right.


End file.
